(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information presentation apparatus such as an in-vehicle information apparatus for presenting information to a driver, and a method of presenting the information.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the wide use of a vehicle among family users (e.g., mothers and children), it has become common to equip the vehicle with an in-vehicle information apparatus (e.g., a car navigation apparatus) for assisting the family users.
When the user inputs a certain destination before heading for the destination by car, the conventional in-vehicle information apparatus searches for a route which requires the shortest amount of time to drive from a present position to a destination on an hourly basis and presents the searched route and the required time to the user (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9-101162 (FIG. 1 in the first page)).
Some conventional in-vehicle information apparatuses set a price ceiling per unit of distance that is allowed by the user as well as a destination, and search automatically for a route that includes a toll road within the range of the price ceiling in order to present a route from a present position to a destination, which reflects the user's preference for toll roads (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2001-21375 (FIG. 8 in the first page)).
However, the conventional in-vehicle information apparatus is rather cumbersome since the family user whose destination is mostly his/her home has to input the destination (i.e., home) each time he/she returns home.
In most cases, the family user has a fixed time to return home, for instance, in order to get back by curfew or in order to be on time for preparing dinner. Some family users desire that one's preferences should be reflected in a selection for the route to return home. The preferences can be, for example, avoiding toll roads (not to spend money) or driving a car in a relaxed manner (taking a route with few intersections and taking a large route).
However, the conventional in-vehicle information apparatus has considered only the case of moving from the present position to the destination that varies each time the user drives, and has not been able to search for a route or calculate the required time, focusing on the case of returning home from a certain place. That is to say, the user usually goes out hoping “I would like to come home at such time at the latest” and for most of the cases, the time to come home is almost the same wherever he/she may go. Under such circumstances, the conventional in-vehicle information apparatus requires operations to set the destination as home and to calculate back the departure time based on the required time presented by the apparatus in order to inform the user of a departure time to leave the place so that the user can reach home at a desired time. This, however, generates a sense of discomfort in the user's mind since the user has to repeat the same operation each time he/she goes out.
Considering a case in which the departure time is delayed due to a longer stay in the place where the user has gone, the user's preferences in selecting a route may change, e.g., the user may desire to take a toll road with the view to come home by time although he/she does not usually take the toll road. Under such circumstances, the conventional in-vehicle information apparatus requires an operation to request a search for the route based on different preferences. This also generates an annoyance in the user's mind because of the cumbersome operation.
Such problems as described above are found not only in the in-vehicle information apparatuses, but in the information presentation apparatuses in general for presenting a returning route to the user.